shin splints

i started to have problems inl my shins about the time i started college and started to work out regularly. i went to the doctor after a couple of months and he confirmed i had shin splints. at the semester break i didn do much so it kinda went away, but now that im back and working out again i am starting to have problems again.
the kind i have according to the doctor isnt the actual bone, but the myofascial tissue(tendon/ligament) on the front inner part of my shin. how can i get relief

ice? i used to get em from jumping rope but now that ive been doin it for over a year i havent had a problem

Make sure you stretch well before and after exercise.

1) stretch before and after
2) ice for 15-20 minutes multiple times a day
3) anti-inflammatory drugs (aspirin, etc.) ***DO NOT take these before you workout just so your shins don't hurt, you'll only make them worse***
4) don't do any exercise that causes your shins to hurt you until they are completely healed - it sucks but you'll just make it worse if you don't let them heal. I recommend swimming when you can't run.
5) do the following exercises 3-5 days a week: heel walks (walk for as long as you can on your heels taking normal strides - you should try for 2minutes+), toe raises (stand with your back to the wall, put your heels about one foot-length from the wall and raise your toes up as high as you can, if you can do 5 sets of 15 reps easily start doing them on one leg)

When I was playing football and running track I would get shinsplints all the time and they never would get the chance to heal because I was always doing something...

The only thing I did for relief was ice. The best way to do that is get some of those little dixie cups and fill them up with water and freeze them. After they're frozen take them out and peel back the cup and then rub those up and down your shins. Works pretty good.

shin plints is never the bone it's the tendon ... :(
why shin splints is so annoying:
you can't stretch it very well
and hot&cold treatment only works for the pain, doesn't remove the problem.

What helps is strenghtening the muscles around it (calf raises come to mind), so that the actual tendon doesn't get that much pressure while running etc.

Shin splints is actually an inflation in the tendon, so inflation pains meds should prolly help recovery (at least that's what the doc prescribed for me).

EDIT: oh I noticed Fartypants mention most of this posts stuff already. !